What's Hot: Very high quality material and build, functional and unique.

What's Not: Adds a good amount of weight to the iPad 2.

Pad and Quill makes some of the most high-end handmade cases for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4. If you've seen our review of their Octavo case for iPad 2 you already know how good these cases look. The Octavo for iPad 2 case had the looks and functions of a great case, but it lacked one thing - a built-in stand - for those who want to prop up their iPad 2 and watch multimedia content. Pad&Quill now has released a new Contega iPad 2 case to offer a built-in stand along with all the great features that the Octavo had. Like with the Octavo case, the Contega for iPad 2 offers three interior colors to go with the black leather exterior.

Design

The Contega iPad 2 case has made some design changes from the Octavo case, and that?s a good thing. The Contega iPad 2 case still has the Pad&Quill?s signature hardcover book style design along with the Baltic birch tablet holder and the smooth and high quality Italian leather exterior. The wooden tablet holder is very form fitting, and thanks to the thin rubber pieces on four corners, your iPad 2 can sit in the birch box securely. Like with other Pad&Quill cases, the Contega iPad 2 case comes with a few extra rubber corner pieces in case you need to adjust the thickness of the corners. The wooden box has lacquered surface, so it?s smooth and isn?t prone to have splinters or scratch your iPad 2. Like with all Pad&Quill cases, the Contega iPad 2 case has a bookmark tab that goes underneath your iPad 2 in the birch box, making it easy to take the iPad 2 out of the case: just pull the tab to lift the tablet. And when you close the case, the tab looks like a bookmark in a hardcover book, increasing the illusion of this case hides a tablet in a book cover. The pull-tab now comes out on top, as opposed to on the bottom with the Octavo case, and we find it more ergonomic when pulling the iPad 2 out from the top.

To protect the iPad 2 and the birch box, the Contega iPad 2 case has a bonded Italian leather exterior with rigid and strong inserts. The leather is high quality and very smooth. The binding style reminds us that of book binding style, so that when you close the case, it really looks like a high-end leather bonded book or notebook. There are two additional pieces in the Contega iPad 2 case design that the Octavo case didn?t have: one is the built-in stand design where the birch box comes out half way from the back cover, and can stand up the tablet in one of the two grooves inside of the front cover. Another interesting piece is a hidden letter compartment on the back of the birch box where you can hide pieces of paper. The case shuts naturally thanks to the perfect fit and binding, but it comes with an elastic band anyway to help shut the cover to the case tightly.

Like with other Pad&Quill cases, the Contega iPad 2 case uses the interior lining to add a splash of color to the black leather exterior and white birch box. The Contega iPad 2 case comes with three interior colors: Classic Red which is more a maroon color in person, Camden Blue which is a navy blue color and Field Green. The Contega iPad 2 case is built solidly like armor and with your iPad 2 in this case, you won?t have to worry about the pokes, bumps or bruises in a bag or backpack. The case however does add a good amount of weight, as it?s 1 lb. and 1 oz.

Features

The Contega iPad 2 case has cutouts for all ports and buttons on the iPad 2 including the rear camera and even the speaker. The deep birch case has nice and smooth cuts, and though you might need to reach into the cutouts, the power button, volume buttons and the screen lock button aren?t hard to use. The 30-pin connector and the audio jack sit pretty deep inside the birch box, but you should have no trouble using a charge/sync cable or earbuds. The case has a two-layer cutout for the rear camera, one through the birch and one through the thick leather. But the camera is perfectly functional via the cutout. The birch box also has a nice way to let the rear speaker sound through, by giving the wooden box a half duct cut near the speaker grill, channeling the sound from the back to the front.

One noticeable addition in the Contega iPad 2 case from the Octavo case is the built-in stand. Since the case binding is so solid and the inserts so strong, your tablet can sit in the case very steadily. The case has two grooves on the inside of the front cover, giving you two viewing angles for media viewing, video chat and web surfing. The stand grooves are quite deep and your tablet definitely won?t slip when standing in it. The cover that doubles as a stand holder also has magnetic system built-in, so the case can turn on and off the screen automatically when you open and shut the case.

Conclusion

A great case just got a lot better! The Contega iPad 2 case from Pad&Quill managed to improve upon the Octavo for iPad 2 case, at least for those who want a built-in stand. The style, material and build quality are outstanding, and you will enjoy the look if you are a book lover or fool your friends into thinking you are carrying a book instead of your iPad 2. The case provides great protection for your tablet thanks to the strong inserts and the wooden tablet box, and it has access to all ports and buttons. It does add a good amount of weight to the slim tablet however, but if you are looking for a classy and very protective case, the Contega iPad 2 will satisfy your taste and needs.